MILT'S
FILE
July
30, 2004:
THE NEWS FROM (AND ABOUT) DARFUR...as provided
on the official website of the Sudanese government. As accustomed
genocidal murderers they play the "game of state" rather
transparently...assisted, one notes at a low level of surprise,
by Les Francais!!
http://www.sudan.gov.sd/
THE
MISSING WARNING OF 9/11...should have come from the historians
and "Middle East experts" of the academy argues Walid
Phares in this article published yesterday. Note: do check out
the linked material.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/
MUDDLED
MILITARY MANTRAS...were, according to Lawrence Kaplan of the New
Republic, in full supply last night in Boston. This commentary
seems to us one of the best produced at high speed last night
after the Kerry speech.
http://www.tnr.com/
IN
BOSTON, ON THE LEFT...some tired reflexive grouching. There was
a time when Navasky, the eternal editor/publisher of The Nation
and the author of these convention ruminations, had something
of substance to say. Now about all he can summon is the vague
hope (borrowed from Studs Terkel!) that someday Barack Obama will
be president.
http://www.thenation.com/
AFTER
NAVASKY ON THE LEFT, HERE'S NOVAK (MICHAEL, THAT IS) ON THE RIGHT...looking
at the same convention and the same annointed candidate. This
is one of the many convention commentaries at today's edition
of National Review Online.
http://www.nationalreview.com/
SOME
BIG NEW YORKERS IN BOSTON. This is, we promise, our last convention
piece. But who could resist this sprightly account--from the New
York Observer--of the two Senators and the state's rising
star seeking to advance their political fortunes on the Fleet
floor?
http://www.observer.com/
MUSLIM
CONVERTS AS POTENTIAL (OR ACTUAL) TERRORISTS. As Islamic missionary
efforts thrive, western converts become fair game for Islamist
recruiters...according to this interesting symposium posted today
at Front Page.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/
GEORGE
SOROS WROTE A BOOK...and here is Midge Decter responding to it
in the Claremont Review. It is a matter of little surprise
that she finds its thesis (American imperialism threatens the
world) falling far short of veridicality. A title waiting for
an author might well be "The Strange Case of the Hungarian
Billionaire."
http://www.claremont.org/
ALL
HISTORY IS MODERN HISTORY...said Benedetto Croce, an Italian historian
who exerted great influence upon an earlier generation of American
historians and moved them, according to this probing article,
toward the relativism and deconstructionism which have bedeviled
many current practitioners of the discipline. Yes, this is academic
stuff! But it is both readable and of considerable consequence
for coming to know (or failing to know) "how we got here."
http://www.nhinet.org/
ARE
CANDY BARS EXPLOSIVE? We really don't quite get this story reported
by the AP from Washington yesterday. But please, don't anybody
tell the ACLU or they will link it to the Patriot Act and sue.
And please, someone else, tell the Metro police to cool it!
http://sfgate.com/
PRAVDA
TURNS TO THE SCATOLOGY QUESTION. And you may get off a few expletives
yourself when you try to read this...unless, of course, you have
recently moved from Odessa to Brighton Beach. But just scroll
down to the next entry.
http://news.pravda.ru/
SO
HERE IT IS IN ENGLISH...of a sort. And we learn from the anonymous
author that Catherine the Great did not favor curses with bodily
referents but, in the new Russia, sexual liberation is somehow
served by "foul language." Quelle surprise!
http://english.pravda.ru/
HOW
GUSTAV MAHLER CONQUERED DEATH...through his great Second Symphony,
performed here by the Orchestra (and some soloists) of the Kirov
Opera and conducted by Valery Gergiev. If you have the time do
read the appended program notes to get the full effect of this
great work.
http://classicalplus.gmn.com/
July 29, 2004:
THE PREDICTABLE (AND UNCONCSIONABLE)
BACK-OFF FROM SANCTIONS AGAINST SUDAN. Apparently you can count
on the UN Security Council to always avoid meaningful action against
genocide. But this time (as, to be sure, in Rwanda) they are doing
it without any serious opposition from the U.S. The Reuters bulletin
makes it all dismally clear.
http://www.reuters.com/
HE
CAN'T STOP WATCHING. A veteran journalist (editor of the Arkansas
Democrat-Gazette) is still drawn to the conventions though
they now decide nothing and the rituals have become totally predictable.
Here's why.
http://www.townhall.com/
MIXED
REVIEWS FOR TERESA. Howie Kurtz of the Washington Post
reviews the reviews. We find that we disagreee with most of the
critics. That the candidate's wife is a little uncomprehending
of (or unresponsive to) political priorities is, after all, rather
endearing--if, that is, you like "authenticity."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
ABOUT
TONIGHT'S KERRY FILM. Spielberg, Moll, Kerry, bullets in the water,
etc. Maybe this story from the New York Observer will
clear it up for you. Or...maybe not.
http://www.observer.com/
AND
LEST WE FORGET, RALPH ALSO RUNS. Nader that is, still pursuing
ballot position in Texas and many other states. Does anyone have
a credible answer to the simple question: WHY?
http://www.insightmag.com/
THE
GAP BETWEEN THE OFFICERS AND THE ENLISTED MEN OF THE DEMOCRATIC
PARTY...is still there says David Broder in today's Washington
Post. I.e. The delegates at the convention lean far lefter!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
AND
NOVAK SEES IT THE SAME WAY AS BRODER. But, in today's column in
the Chicago Sun-Times, he forsees trouble beyond the
convention when the "rank and file" act up to push the
program "leftwards."
http://www.suntimes.com/
THE
FRIENDS OF STEPHEN BING...may be a source of some embarrassment
for the Democrats...if Mafia connections matter any more. The
details are to be found in this story carried by ABC News last
night.
http://abcnews.go.com/
IS
HE OR IS HE NOT A "LANDZMAN?" The history of the Jewish
Kerry's is layed out in this informative and resourceful article
published last year in Reform Judaism magazine. He and
Madeline Albright do, indeed, have much in common.
http://www.uahc.org/
EXCLUSIVITY
AND SAME-SEX MARRIAGE...seem not to go together like a horse and
carriage. The consequences of this fact for heterosexual marriage,
if (or when) same-sex marriage becomes routine, are examined in
this article from the current issue of City Journal.
http://www.city-journal.org/
BIG
BROTHER'S MAGIC BOOT IS EVERYWHERE...or so say the people at U.K.
Privacy International. They have just given their annual awards
for those persons and organizations who have done most "to
devastate privacy and civil liberties." Follow the links
down into the many sectors of the abyss.
http://www.privacyinternational.org/
SIXTY
YEARS AGO: THE WARSAW UPRISING. This terrible chapter in the history
of World War II began on August 1st, 1944 and ended tragically
while the Russians looked on from across the river. This commemorative
site contains movie clips, songs and a large amount of vivid archival
material.
http://www.warsawuprising.com/
THREE
YOUNG WOMEN OF WARSAW...who fought in the uprising and survived
are interviewed here by a Polish historian writing for the U.K.
Telegraph.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
WOODY
GUTHRIE!! We have just found this fine collection of original
Guthrie recordings. Essential choices: Talking Hard Work, Great
Historical Bum and Dusty Old Dust.
http://www.usm.maine.edu/
July 28, 2004:
Milt's
File is taking the day off, but will return tomorrow.
July 27, 2004:
BEHIND THE DARFUR GENOCIDE. The UK Observer
published this valuable backgrounder over the weekend. It bears
close reading, but to explain all is not (as the French say it
is) to forgive all.
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/
AFTER
ARAFAT: POLICY CHANGE OR CHAOTIC BREAKDOWN? The question is well
asked by the author of a recent Oxford University Pess biography
of the Palestinian leader. The projected answer, though persuasively
argued in this article from the Middle East Quarterly,
is not particularly cheering.
http://www.meforum.org/
ALTERNATIVE
COVERAGE OF THE CONVENTION. The alternative here is the Media
Research Center with their avowedly critical "media watch"
operation. Our favorite comes at the end of the menu: Letterman's
"Top Ten Signs Your Convention Speech is Boring."
http://www.mrc.org/
THE
POLL THEY WILL ALL BE TALKING ABOUT TODAY...is the one just reported
by (and done for) ABC. The overall interpretation is that there
is no "convention bounce" yet and that Kerry has not
"made the sale" on most of the issues.
http://abcnews.go.com/
KERRY'S
SECRET STRENGTH...is that he's booooring. So says David Brooks
in the New York Times today; and he proceeds to make
a fair case for the proposition that that's what the Dems need
this year. Note: we said a "fair case," not necessarily
a convincing one.
http://www.nytimes.com/
THE
MAN BEHIND THE STAFF BEHIND KERRY...has been around for quite
a while and has yet to engineer a Democratic presidential win.
But then, asks Frankiln Foer in this article from the current
New Republic, "who has?"
http://www.tnr.com/
A
DAY IN THE LIFE OF SADDAM HUSSEIN. A little gardening, a few verses
dashed off and then some milk and (American) cookies. CNN brings
us this account of the now quiet life of the onetime "President
for Life" of Iraq. And you may want to check out some of
the interesting links.
http://www.cnn.com/
A
STEP TOWARD STEM CELL THERAPY FOR STROKE? That's the most optimistic
meaning that can be put upon these research findings from Stanford
University as reported here by the BBC.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/
HOW
LONG BEFORE OUR FIRST EXTRATERRESTRIAL CONTACT? Much less than
you might think: e.g. How about twenty years from now? So says
the senior astronomer at the SETI Institute. But the estimate
is premised on the Drake equation and on the actual presence of
life elsewhere in the galaxy. This enticing article has just appeared
in New Scientist.
http://www.newscientist.com/
A
FAKE TRAGEDY BECLOUDS MANY REAL ONES...in Jordan where an "indiscreet"
contact bewteen a man and a woman may lead to the murder of the
latter by members of her own family. This account of the falsified
Forbidden Love has just appeared in the U.K. Guardian.
http://books.guardian.co.uk/
IDEAS
HAVE CONSEQUENCES...was the title of a great book of fifty years
ago. What ideas will dominate fifty years hence? The New Statesman
has asked the question of six "big thinkers" and here
are their answers.
http://www.newstatesman.co.uk/
WHAT
ACCOUNTS FOR THE DECLINE IN CLASSICAL CONCERT ATTENDANCE? THE
WALKMAN!! Does that sound specious or luddite/paranoid? Well,
consider the facts and interpretations put forward quite convincingly,
we think, in La Scena Musicale's "Lebrecht Weekly."
http://www.scena.org/
BI-ACCENTISM
IN SINGAPORE...is a neccessary skill when entertaining friends
from New York, according to this linguistically ambidextrous (yes,
we know--that refers to hands) informant writing in the Singapore
Straits-Times.
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/
AND
WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THAT RARE VINTAGE FROM MILLOU DE GRENOUILLE/SAINTE
CYR? There's a big change coming in French wines and all that
wine snobs will have left is the taste of the stuff. This article
from the U.K. Observer predicts the coming seismic shift
in nomenclature.
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/
A
MASTERWORK BY BRAHMS. The Piano Quartet No. 3 is movingly performed
here by four master musicians.
http://classicalplus.gmn.com/
July 26, 2004:
KEEPING THE SUDAN SAFE FOR GENOCIDE.
This bulletin from VOA makes it all too clear that the elite of
the Murder State based in Khartoum will not be dissuaded. If NATO
or the UN or the African National Congress had any will to oppose
consumate evil they would act now----BUT THEY WON'T!
http://www.voanews.com/
ON
THE GROUND--AND IN THE POLITICS--OF IRAQ. Tom Bevan of Real Clear
Politics has done a fine two-part interview with one of the most
clear-headed observers of contemporary Iraq, Karl Zinsmeister,
author the book Dawn Over Baghdad. It is high-priority
reading and here it is.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/
GET
OUT OR WE'LL KILL YOU...is now the basic message from Al Qaeda
to all nations (and major companies) assisting the pacification
and rebuilding of Iraq. Spain and the Philippines have already
turned tail. Australia, as reported here in one of their national
newspapers, faces a similar decisional crisis--but so far the
government is standing firm.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/
WHAT
WILL THE BLOGGERS DO TO (OR WITH) THE BOSTON CONVENTION? According
to John Fund of the Wall Street Journal, many of the
leading political bloggers are on scene and have press credentials.
The general cynicism/skepticism of the leading purveyors of blogopinion
may "frame" the convention in a way that will influence
some of the standard "journalists."
http://www.opinionjournal.com/
THE
U.K.ECONOMIST PROFILES KERRY...and does a better job of it than
any of our newsmags. Our favorite sentence: "He expresses
simple ideas in weird, circumlocutory ways, showing a special
fondness for multiple negatives." But this is not a merely
condemning or condescending piece. Rather, it seems to us the
sort of intelliegnt journalism that is now in rather short supply
over here.
http://www.economist.com/
BY
THEIR FATHERS SHALL YE KNOW THEM. John Kerry's father was an anti-cold
warrior within the State Department who thought that the U.S.
was "as guilty" as the USSR in the Cold War and who
urged that we not try to impose our values (and democracy) upon
other nations. Hmmmm.
http://www.cbsnews.com/
THE
KERRY MILLIONS. We will instantly grant that this article from
the current Weekly Standard is somewhat...ahh, "bitchy"
might be the right word. But it does fill out one side of the
Kerry story that has not been fully developed by the news magazines
or the newspaper of record.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/
SHOULD
THE CIA BE TALKING ABOUT THIS? Probably in response to the 9/11
Commission's critique they are now revealing (bragging?) that
they have penetrated Al-Qaeda...well, sort of. This report, based
upon a briefing in Washington, is from the Singapore Straits-Times.
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/
WHAT
WOULD JOHN CALVIN SAY...about the anti-Israel actions of the American
branch of his church? The facts about what has happened and some
strong judgements therof are supplied in this passionately-written
column fromn the San Francisco Chronicle.
http://sfgate.com/
JAMES
BALDWIN REMEMBERED...by his publisher and high school friend,
Sol Stein. This affecting excerpt from a forthcoming book appeared
recently in Poets and Writers magazine.
http://www.pw.org/
WHAT
DO J.K. ROWLING AND CHARLES DICKENS HAVE IN COMMON? Hint: it has
nothing to do with plot or style. Il s'agit d'argent! Read on
in this informative (though, at one crucial point, grossly ungrammatical)
account from American Heritage magazine.
http://www.americanheritage.com/
THE
GOURMET PUSHCART...has arrived on the streets of Manhattan and
may herald the next big thing for young, well-trained chefs and
restaurateurs. New York magazine spots the trend and
presents one of its pioneers in this article.
http://www.newyorkmetro.com/
ENTER
"HARLEY STREET" ON GOOGLE AND MOTORCYCLE ADS MAY POP
UP. WHY? This article from the current issue of Reason
magazine explains a good deal about internet marketing and also
informs--we are happy to note--that some of this stuff is now
being challenged in court. But not for the right reasons!
http://www.reason.com/
WHATEVER
DOO WOP WAS, HERE IT IS...and we confess that we like it for the
happily rythmic and classically harmonic style that it was. For
some of the best do click on the Flamingos and the Chantels.
http://www.hhbrandy.addr.com/
July 23, 2004:
Milt's
File is taking the day off, but will return on Monday.
July 22, 2004:
THE 9/11 COMMISSION REPORT...is available
everywhere today, including here. This is the 31-page executive
summary and, on hurried perusal, it seems properly and prudentially
focussed on catastrophic expectation.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
THIS
WISE COMMENTARY ON THE REPORT...comes from Christopher Cox, the
Chairman of the House Select Committee on Homeland Security and
was published this morning in the Wall Street Journal.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/
AN
INTELLIGENCE SUPER-CZAR WON'T BE ENOUGH...says this intelligence-veteran
in a strong opinion piece in today's New York Post. His
further points: the intelligence culture needs to change--and,
by the way, let's stop the obligatory references to a "great
religion."
http://www.nypost.com/
WHO WANTS TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD? Anthony Browne, in this week's
UK Spectator, thinks the question has a clear answer
ans he presents it here in an unmincing and strongly assertive
article.
http://www.spectator.co.uk/
READING
THE PRESIDENTIAL POLLS...when the candidates seem virtually tied
is a tricky art and John McIntyre, of Real Clear Politics, does
it as well as anyone we know. Here's his latest overview of the
polls and the pundits and, as usual, he cuts through the murk
with exemplary realism.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/
LET'S
GET THE WILSON-NIGER-YELLOWCAKE STORY RIGHT. Bill Safire seems
to have laid out the basic--and until now veiled--facts in this
recent column in the New York Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/
THE
SYRIANS IN THE SKY WERE NOT TERRORISTS...this time. But the saga
reported here in an unusual National Review article ain't
rally funny Magee! Rather, it seems to us to point up the continuing
inadequacies of our airborne domestic intelligence operations.
http://www.nationalreview.com/
GETTING
OUT OF THE (BLACK) HOLE...now seems possible, even likely, according
to Stephen Hawking according to this report from the CBC. Science
fictioneers may have to find a new way to get to "other universes."
http://www.cbc.ca/
CAN
SCIENTISTS BE DUPED? You bet! And, furthermore, they sometimes
manage to dupe themselves. This excellent article on the subject
has just come our way and we are happy to recommend it as important
and, happily, quite readable even though written by another social
psychologist.
http://www.culticstudiesreview.org/
THE
VERY YOUNG EDMUND WILSON....comments (circa 1924!) on the poetry
of Wallace Stevens and E.E. (i.e. before he became e.e.) Cummings.
The New Republic has just republished this wonderful
item from their vast literary archive.
http://www.tnr.com/
ISAAC
BASHEVIS SINGER, CONTROVERSIAL AFTER ALL THESE YEARS? His centennial
was last Sunday and some of the dwindling number of Yiddishists
argue that he did not deserve the Nobel Prize. The author of this
article from the Boston Globe was the editor of the new
Library of America collection of Singer's stories.
http://www.boston.com/
OF
THE MAKING OF MANY BOOKS THERE IS NO END...sayeth the preacher
in Ecclesiastes. And so say the publishing types interviewed by
these Chicago Sun-Times reporters who also remind us
of the recent study showing a significant decline in American
reading. Curious...hmmmmm.
http://www.suntimes.com/
THE
FATTER WE GROW THE LESS WE READ! Well, the two are inversely correlated...but
the other and more relevant factors are, of course, the further
growth of TV and the coming of the internet. Here's the full study
on the decline of reading in America recently released by the
National Endowment for the Arts.
http://www.arts.gov/
MORE
CHAMBER MUSIC FROM LUGANO. Schumann, Schubert and Dvorak are featured
in this excellent concert recorded last month.
http://www.rtsi.ch/
July 21, 2004:
Milt's File is taking the day off, but
will return tomorrow.
July 20, 2004:
A CRI DE COEUR ABOUT THE GENOCIDE IN
SUDAN. Mark Steyn puts aside his usual ironic stance and offers
up, in this article from today's London Telegraph, a
true and deeply-felt, "j'accuse" directed at the cynical
murderers in Khartoum.
http://telegraph.co.uk/
THE PALISTINIAN MELTDOWN. Dan Pipes, in this article from today's
New York Sun, reviews the collapse into chaos after years
of Arafatian duplicity and venality. A little serious democracy
might go a long way toward producing a responsible "government"
and, ultimately, the long overdue Palestinian state.
http://www.danielpipes.org/
AN
UPDATE ON BEATING THE BUSH. Rich Lowry, in the National Review
today, reviews the perfected art of attacking Bush all ways, from
all directions, all the time. The question does arise: Can civility
and fairness ever be restored after this descent into pre-election
defamation?
http://www.nationalreview.com/
MEANWHILE,
BACK HERE IN ILLINOIS...the senatorial "race" is actually
a romp toward virtually unchallenged election. The facts and possibly
some generalizable political wisdom are available in this coverage
from the distant--but plugged in--Financial Times.
http://news.ft.com/
THE
NEW MODES OF INSURGENCY...in Iraq now and likely to be encountered
elsewhere in the future are intelligently examined in this article
just published in The Atlantic.
http://www.theatlantic.com/
GETTING
TO KNOW MUHAMMAD IBN ABD AL-WAHAB. A new book suggests that he
was really a pretty decent fellow and, in point of fact, a SCHOLAR!
This op-ed author in today's Wall Street Journal seems
rather bemused and/or confused at how such a "purifying"
religious nativist could have spawned so violent a movement. Ever
heard of Savanarola or Torquemada?
http://www.opinionjournal.com/
CATHOLIC
NO MORE? Jimmy Breslin's searing new book The Church that
Forgot Christ is reviewed here in the Buffalo News
by a dismayed Catholic layman. Breslin will be our guest tonight
on Extension 720.
http://www.buffalonews.com/
WOULD
JOHN CALVIN HAVE APPROVED...of what the American branch of his
church has just done to--and against--Israel? The dismaying facts
are reviewed in this article from yesterday's issue of Front
Page.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/
WHAT'S WRONG WITH THE NAACP? According to John McWhorter (whose
latest appearance on our program can be heard here)
the organization has "dissolved into posturing after the
battles were largely won." And, like many black conservatives,
he approves of Bush having turned down their invitation (four
times!).
http://www.grandforks.com/
PRESIDENT
ALEXANDER HAMILTON...might well have taken office after Jefferson's
second term IF he had not been killed by Aaron Burr. This great
counter-factual speculation appeared recently at the History
News Network site. We ventured into that same hypothetical
realm recently with Ron Chernow (listen here)
author of the new major biography of Hamilton.
http://hnn.us/
THERE
WAS A NAZI VERSION OF PSYCHOANALYSIS...and, as this scholarly
review of a recent work on the subject reveals, it played its
part in the genocide program.
http://www.h-net.msu.edu/
THE
CASE OF GORE VIDAL...is examined in this not-unfriendly overview
of his political/literary output. We long ago grew rather fatigued
with his oracular certainty as it veered toward conspiratorialism
and parlor-version anti-semitism...but here's what the guy at
the Toronto Globe and Mail thinks.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
SOME
BACH TO CLEAR THE MIND...or, at least, lighten the spirit. The
Second Orchestral Suite is beautifully performed here by the Berlin
Baroque Soloists.
http://classicalplus.gmn.com/
July 19, 2004:
DEMOCRACY IN THE MIDDLE EAST: CAN THEY
GET THERE FROM HERE? This article in Slate has the appeal
of being informed, intelligent and appropriately skeptical.
http://slate.msn.com/
CAN
THE DARFUR GENOCIDE BE STOPPED? James Traub, in yesterday's New
York Times, searches for parallels to Kosovo and comes up
short. Not encouraging, but informative, this article suggests
that the west is not up to disciplining the Sudanese sponsors
of the massacre.
http://www.nytimes.com/
HOW DO YOU GET TO THE SWING VOTERS? Apparently by attaching your
ads to their favorite TV programs. This article from yesterday's
New York Times reports just how the two presidential
campaigns differ in the placement of their TV ads. Surprise: they
are after different demographic groups!
http://www.nytimes.com/
A
PROPAGANDIST IN SCHOLAR'S CLOTHING? Rashid Khalidi was formerly
a colleague at the University of Chicago and now occupies the
Edward Said Chair in Middle Eastern Studies at Columbia University.
He and Said were once members of the Council that "advised"
Arafat. His new book attacking U.S. Middle East policy is critically
reviewed here by the editor of the Middle East Quarterly.
http://www.meforum.org/
THE
SIGNIFICANCE OF AN APE WASHING A POTATO...may well be that it
shows them to be "just like us" except soemwhat slower
of mind. Or, is it a mistake to attribute "consciousness"
to them? Frans de Waal, probably the best "ape-man"
in the American scientific establishment, and a fairly frequent
guest on our program, examines the mentality of apes in this fine
recent review/essay from Natural History Magazine.
http://www.naturalhistorymag.com/
HOW
HANNAH ARENDT EXPLAINED EICHMANN AND FORGAVE HEIDEGGER. For the
woman who presumed to understand the origins of "totalitarianism"
as consumate modern evil, she was strangely "easy" on
these two Nazis. Why and how are addressed in this fine essay
from Dissent Magazine.
http://www.dissentmagazine.org/
WHAT
TO MAKE OF THE AMERICAN EVANGELICALS. That seems to be one of
the main questions haunting an important new book by sociologist
Alan Wolfe and reviewed here by another significant sociologue.
Both have been guests on our program and we'd love to get them
back and together for a continuation of the debate begun in this
review/essay from Christianity Today.
http://www.christianitytoday.com/
HOW
MUCH TV DID YOU WATCH AS A CHILD? The more time you spent in front
of the screen, the more ill-health you may encounter as an adult.
See this story from Reuters (based on a study reported in Lancet,
the leading British medical journal) and then get your kid out
in the fresh air!
http://www.reuters.com/
WILL
SOMEONE PLEASE LOOK UP "VALUES" IN THE DICTIONARY? We
surfeited on the politically-misused word weeks ago. David Brooks
of the New York Times has caught up--but he is somewhat
more forgiving. Perhaps...tout comprendre c'est tout pardonner.
http://www.nytimes.com/
THE
LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL IS NOT HEAVEN...as disclosed in
"near death experiences" but, rather, a physiological
phenomenon fostered by oxygen deprivation and opthalmologic processes.
Sorry! And here's the basic information in an article from the
current issue of The Skeptical Inquirer.
http://www.csicop.org/
YEAH!
WE'VE BEEN WONDERING ABOUT THAT TOO...but the answer supplied
here by the house expert at the Washington Post does
not seem to us to be the final or authoritative word. What do
you know or think about obligatory cheek bussing?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
SHOSTAKOVICH'S
FOURTH: THE PROGRAM NOTES. This time around with our musical selection
of the day we commend these excellent comments to be read before
you listen.
http://classicalplus.gmn.com/
AND
NOW THE MUSIC ITSELF! We were intruiged and delighted by this
work and by this punchy performance conducted by Valery Gergiev.
http://classicalplus.gmn.com/
July 16, 2004:
HOW ARE THINGS IN NEW IRAQ? Not yet quite
as good as in Glocamora, but far better than the mainline press
is likely to tell you. So asserts Karl Zinsmeister who has spent
a good deaL of time there over the last year. He is interviewed
here by Jamie Glazov of Front Page magazine.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/
THE
THOUGHT POLICEMAN ON THE BLOCK: The more Russia changes, the more
it seems to become the USSR again. Apparently and once again,
a good career can be had in Moscow spying and reporting on your
neighbors. This report from Transitions On Line suggests
that Moscow has fallen into a backwards time warp.
http://www.tol.cz/
SAME
SEX MARRIAGE AND THE FIDELITY STANDARD: They probably don't go
together say Robert George and David Tubbs in this article from
the current City Journal. And this, they argue, may have
dysfunctional consequences for the future of what has been, until
now, "conventional" marriage.
http://www.manhattan-institute.org/
KINKY
FRIEDMAN FOR GOVERNOR OF TEXAS? Why not? How many of our present
politicians have fronted for a brilliantly eccentric band (Kinky
Friedman's Texas Jew Boys) and written a slew of great mystery
novels? In this article from the Daily Forward the Kinkster,
who has often graced our radio program, seems--almost--to be declaring
his coming candidacy.
http://www.forward.com/
PERHAPS
THE MLA DOESN'T REALLY EXIST.... but rather is a shared fiction
sustained as a faux reality by a hundred or more brilliant satirists.
This painfully funny description of their last convention was
recently published in The Believer.
http://www.believermag.com/
WILL
RANDOM HOUSE PUBLISH SADDAM'S NOVELS? According to this article
in the U.K. Prospect he is working on yet another
as he awaits his trial. And the ones already published in Arabic
sound as if they could easily rival some of the stuff on the book
racks at Walgreens.
http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/
JOE
WILSON AND THE NIGER YELLOWCAKE: According to the Senate Intelligence
Committee's report he was WRONG when he asserted that Saddam never
went seeking the stuff. And we now learn from Robert Novak (who
identified Wilson's wife as a CIA employee) that she had a great
deal of influence upon his being commissioned to go to Africa
to check it all out! Hmmmmm.
http://www.townhall.com/
COLLEGE
EDUCATION HAS BECOME "POST-LITERATE." As a veteran academic, the
proprietor has long known and shared that open secret with his
more honest colleagues---all of whom also know that, as Suzanne
Fields demonstrates in this column, their students hardly ever
read much more than a TV caption or an e-mail. Where it will all
end, knows God!
http://www.washtimes.com/
TAK,
DET VER HUGLIE! But would Norway actually be the best place to
live? Could one get an exemption from the ritually required lutefisk?
If the U.N. rates Norway as the most livable of all countries,
how about moving the headquarters out of Manhattan and into Oslo?
http://www.aftenposten.no/
WHO
INVENTED EAR MUFFS? WHAT'S THE POPULATION OF TERRA DEL FUEGO?
Knowledge of true "trivia" may provide the comfortable illusion
of cognitive competence. At any rate it appears, according to
this story from the Christian Science Monitor, to have
become a national preoccupation.
http://www.csmonitor.com/
IT
WAS LOVE AND LOVE ALONE/ THAT LOST KING EDWARD TO HIS THRONE!
So goes the old calypso ballad sung by The Duke of Iron shortly
after Edward VIII's abdication. But his seems to have been a less
fulfilling affair than those of many other monarchs---according
to this book review in the Washington Post.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
DOING
THE FULL MONTY.....in the sense of vacationing in Montenegro,
is gently urged by the travel staff of the London Times.
The closest we ever got was Croatian Dalmatia...and this sounds
even better.
http://travel.timesonline.co.uk/
FROM
THE FIFTIES.....some great popular music and equally outstanding
performers. Don't miss: Johnnie Ray, Frankie Laine and, especially,
the great Al Hibbler.
http://www.beau-dacious.addr.com/
July
15, 2004:
Milt's File is taking the day off, but will return
tomorrow.
July 14, 2004:
SAFIRE READS THE SENATE 9/11 REPORT...and
finds that when you put aside "groupthink" it clears
the president and puts blame where it properly belongs: the poor
performance of the CIA!
http://www.nytimes.com/
AND
WHAT WOULD KERRY HAVE DONE WITH THE SAME INFO? So asks Tom Bevan,
the co-proprietor of Real Clear Politics as he draws upon a crucial
exchange on Russert's program last Sunday. As is so often the
case, these guys do cut through the argumentative and factual
haze and extract the neccesary conclusion.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/
EVERYTHING
UP TO DATE ON OSAMA. This highly interactive CBS site conveys
the current news about his "isolation" and has valuable
backgrounder-links on the man, his associates, their likely plans
for future assaults upon western nations.
http://www.cbsnews.com/
COMBAT
AIDS OR VILIFY THE US? Given that choice, says Jim Glassman, reporting
from Bangkok, too many of the delegates at the AIDS conference
(including, of course, some Hollywood notables) have chosen the
latter indulgence. We like his conclusion: Next year, let's stay
away so that we won't have to bother "fending off insults
from ingrates and morons."
http://techcentralstation.com/
CHARLIE
RANGEL GETS ARRESTED...in a good cause and, inevitably, evokes
memories of the old civil rights campaigns. Here's his account
in the New York Daily News of what happened, and why,
when he joined a protest in front of the Sudanese embassy.
http://www.nydailynews.com/
THE
HUBBLE IS REPARABLE.....and it should be serviced by astronauts
sent up to do the job. That's the conclusion reached by a National
Academy of Sciences commission as reported in this BBC story.
Let's do it! The great eye into the distant universe is far too
valuable to be blinded when full vision can be restored.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/
INSTEAD
OF SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST...how about "survival of the nicest?"
That's the question raised by an anthropologist at Washington
University. As was the case in a famous debate stirred up by Ed
Wilson, the "father of sociobiology," the key phenomenon
requiring explanation is "altruistic sacrifice." Here's
the relevant article from the University's web site.
http://news-info.wustl.edu/
BILL
COSBY, THE SPEAKER OF TRUTH TO THE NAACP...has taken his knocks
and also received much appropriate commendation. Today in Slate,
Debra Dickerson provides some of the biographical context. Though
one might well ask whether it is needed. Since Cosby has been
proclaiming some obvious (though unpalatable) truths, isn't the
best explanation simply that the man has an abiding respect for
honesty?
http://politics.slate.msn.com/
THE
DARK SIDE OF GRADUATE SCHOOL LIFE...involves many lapses into
dishonesty. But this one, as reported in a recent issue of the
Chronicle of Higher Education, does set the hallmark
for dissertational chutzpah.
http://chronicle.com/
KEEP
YOUR RELIGION TO YOURSELF, PROFESSOR...or you may be punished
for multicultural insensitivity and diversity deviation. Another
such dismal violation of academic rights has been taken up by
the invaluable Foundation for
Individual Rights in Education. Full disclosure: the proprietor
is on their Board of Advisors.
http://www.thefire.org/
AND
SPEAKING OF POLITICAL CORRECTNESS, THE ACADEMY AND FIRE...this
article from the current issue of Reason magazine will
fill you on on the continuing crisis and the continuing need for
active and law-based defense of free speech on America's campuses.
http://www.reason.com/
SIR
MICHAEL'S STRANGEST DAUGHTER...is also a renowned actor who usually
gets a pass on her "politics" because of her "performances."
But, not from Don Feder writing in today's issue of Front
Page. Once again it is demonstrated that acting skill (or
dramaturgic hubris) is no predictor of cognitive competence.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/
ENTHUSIASTICALLY--NOT
DOUBTFULLY--PRO-ADVERBIAL...is the author of this HEATEDLY positive
treatise on the much-maligned adverb. The Age of Melbourne
is the source.
http://www.theage.com.au/
ERIC
CLAPTON...both plugged and unplugged! Among the many great performances
available here, don't miss his version of the classic Bessie Smith
blues, "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out."
http://www.hhtabby.addr.com/
July 13, 2004:
Milt's
File is taking the day off, but will return tomorrow.
July 12, 2004:
AN AL QAEDA-IRAQ CONECTION? Yes, according
to the 9/11 Commission! But, as Adam Sparks suggests here in the
San Francisco Gate, the press has taken a ho-hum pass
on this striking revelation. May one ask: "Why?"
http://www.sfgate.com/
YELLOWCAKE, YELLOWCAKE, WHO HAD
THE YELLOWCAKE? Well, it now appears that Niger DID have it and
SADDAM HUSSEIN really was trying to get it! Which leaves the interesting
case of Joe Wilson and the loving reception he got from most of
the press. Clifford May reviews and ponders the whole affair in
this from today's National Review Online.
http://www.nationalreview.com/
THE
TWO ROCKEFELLERS. Working with the same information the president
had, the ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee came
to the same--strongly pronounced--conclusions. Thus, asks Stephen
Hayes of the Weekly Standard: What exactly is the logic
of his present complaint?
http://www.weeklystandard.com/
THE
LANGUAGE MAVEN CALLS IT "KOFIGATE." Bill Safire seems
rather convinced that at the center of the UN scandal (who pocketed
the ten billion dollars?) is the Secretary General of the U.N.
We think he is absolutely right in urging the press to get on
the case rather than leave it all to the Volker Commission.
http://www.nytimes.com/
TERRORISM
AS "SHREWDNESS AND NONSENSE." A Camridge history professor
offers some sharp insights into the continuity between past and
present murderous monsters in this essay published a few days
ago in The Scotsman.
http://news.scotsman.com/
IS
PRINCE CHARLES A LUDDITE? Some nanotechnology enthusiasts will
say so after his op-ed piece published yesterday and summarized
here by BBC News. We suspect that he (or the scientists who got
his ear) is (are) on to something that needs close attention before
the technological imperative sweeps all before it.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/
THE
DEATH OF A DISSIDENT CHAUVINIST. Why does the career of Father
Dimitry Dudko bring to mind Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn? This obituary
from the U.K. Economist reminds one that, in the Soviet
Union as elsewhere, opposition to tyranny did not always flow
from democratic convictions.
http://www.economist.com/
ON
THE TWO-HUNDRETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE HAMILTON-BURR DUEL...Ron Chernow,
who discussed his definitve biography of Hamilton with us recently
on our radio program, retells the story in the New York Times
and sets it in the context of the code duello that once prevailed
in American political life.
http://www.nytimes.com/
SO,
IS THERE A "LIBERAL BIAS" VISIBLE (AUDIBLE) IN AMERICAN
MEDIA? Well, consider the difference, says this op-ed in the Wall
Street Journal, between Fox News and all the others. And
then there's the way the Ashville Citizen-Times reported
on Rumsfeld at West Point...
http://www.opinionjournal.com/
IN
THE NAME OF MULTICULTURALISM...much nonsense and considerable
inequity have been added to the burdens of contemporary social
life. This anecdotal overview from Front Page magazine
reminds us "how far we have come."
http://www.frontpagemag.com/
CA
N'EST PAS LA BELLE FRANCE! Racism, anti-Semitism, Islamic terrorism
and presidential pomposity: the mix in France does not make for
a happy Bastille Day. The International Herald Tribune
reviews the disheartening scene from Paris.
http://www.iht.com/
HAUTEUR
WITH STYLE. Yesterday's New York Times interview with
William Buckley--whatever you think of his views--has some delicious
bon mots, as is usually the case whenever he gets a willing interviewer
to play along with him.
http://www.nytimes.com/
ANOTHER
CONFLUENCE OF ENTERPRISE AND NEED. A market sector previously
ignored provides a great new merchandising opportunity. But, will
there soon be an IPO? Will shares be available for the thousands
of potential investors? The Onion should have told us.
http://www.theonion.com/
TWO
CONTRASTING PERFORMANCES...of a mainstay of the classical repertory,
Brahms First Piano Concerto. We think the Donohoe reading is "brisker"
while the performance by Lill is more "contemplative."
http://classicalplus.gmn.com/
July 9, 2004:
WHADDYA MEAN WMDS? WHAT ABOUT GLOBAL
WARMING? The Blix Blight is, according to today's column by Krauthammer,
still around and probably still infectious. Whether or not the
CIA put forward mistaken intellligence about Iraq (see today's
Senate Intelligence Committee report) 9/11 did happen. And the
urgent issue is how do we prevent something of that order from
happening again--or how do we respond when it does happen again.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
BAD
NEIGHBORS REQUIRE HIGH FENCES. In the light of the "anti-wall"
judgement just issued by the International Court of Justice, the
Economist provides one of its valuable backgrounders.
As usual, the links are also of great value.
http://www.economist.com/
WHO
IS T.C. WRETCHARD? He blogs at The
Belmont Club and he knows how to illuminate the present throuh
the past, as witness this brilliant little essay which draws lessons
for France and Al Qaida from the Battle of Waterloo. Our thanks
to Real Clear Politics for alerting us to this one.
http://realclearpolitics.com/
ON
THE PROWL WITH CASSINI-HUYGENS. As qualified space-exploration
buff, we have examined all the possible sites--and the best one
is (Tarahh!) still NASA. Do check it out for the great photos
and the many informative links.
http://www.nasa.gov/
SETTING
THE STAGE FOR HITLER. The first of three projected volumes that
will examine the origins, "achievements" and crimes
of the Nazi state has just appeared. As we read this well-bethought
review from Commentary we begin to comprehend that the
views of Daniel Goldhagen are not totally inadmissable for Richard
Evans.
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/
WHAT
IF HAMILTON HAD NOT BEEN KILLED BY BURR? That counter-factual
question came to mind in our recent discussion with his new biographer,
Ron Chernow. It is a fine book about a life of tremendous consequence
and it is here reviewed by Walter Russell Mead for Foreign
Affairs.
http://www.foreignaffairs.org/
MCWHORTER IS RIGHT! AND HE SAID IT BEFORE COSBY DID! The issue
is the worth (zero, in his opinion) of "hip-hop" as
music or as social commentary. Check out his argument in this
interview from the U.K. Guardian. For much more on his
views of the challenges and burdens of present-day African-American
life, listen to this
conversation with him on Extension 720.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
WHEN
CHEVY CHASE EVALUATES COMPARATIVE IQs--as he seems to have done
last night at the "show biz rally" for Kerry/Edwards--one
wishes he might have gone on to estimate the cognitive-competence
levels reflected in the reported comments of some of his fellow
onstage "stars." They raised lotsadough we are told
here (at $25,000 a seat for some!) even if they did not particularly
raise the level of political discourse.
http://news.yahoo.com/
THE
RACE IS TO THE (ARM)STRONG...one hopes. But whether he gets his
sixth victory or not, the history of the Tour de France may well
illuminate the history of France itself. This quick but informative
romp from 1903 to the present is from the current issue of the
New Criterion.
http://www.newcriterion.com/
COUNTER-SPIN
FROM DOWN UNDER. Just as does the water in the bowl below the
equator, the film critic for the Sydney Morning Herald
reverses the spin on, about and by MICHAEL MOORE! As good a review
of the man's somewhat appalling career and oeuvre as we have seen.
http://www.smh.com.au/
THE
PULITZER BOARD NOTES THE EXISTENCE OF JAZZ...which grumpily pleases
Nat Hentoff. Though we sometimes disagree with him (when he is
in his perfected ACLU mood) there is no one who writes about jazz
with more accute perception and finely-tuned appreciation. The
article is from today's Wall Street Journal.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/
AND
SPEAKING OF ELLINGTON. Here "for your listening pleasure"
is a great collection of some thirty(!!) of his recordings. Not
to be missed: A Train, Mood Indigo, C Jam Blues, Caravan...and
everything else.
http://www.tuxjunction.net/
July 8, 2004:
Milt's
File is taking the day off, but will return tomorrow.
July 7, 2004:
THE REAL SADDAM-OSAMA CONNECTION. Stephan
Hayes of the Weekly Standard has done a valuable book
on that aspect of "hidden reality" and here is a columnar
version of his argument and a review of some of the pertinent
facts.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/
THE
REAL JOHN EDWARDS...will, says this senior editor at Reason
magazine, shortly be revealed. The press that, until now, built
him up has already and predictably begun to tear him down...and,
in the view expressed here, there is much about him that is teardownable.
http://www.reason.com/
SAFIRE SEEKS APPRAISAL OF EDWARDS FROM GRAHAM. That's Graham (R)
of South Carolina, not Graham (D) of Florida. He's a Republican,
to be sure, but his appraisal of the new vice presidential candidate
does, we think, have the merit of hard-headed political realism.
http://www.nytimes.com/
AND
YET ONE MORE ON THE EDWARDS NOMINATION. This time from our friend
and frequent program guest, John McIntyre, co-proprietor of RealClearPolitics.com
who does better than anyone else we know at reading the meaning
of polls for pols.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/
AFTER
ANOTHER 9/11, WHAT? Victor Davis Hanson raises just that question
in this column from yesterday's National Review Online.
The answer is pre-announced "massive retaliation." Towards
whom? Read on--and listen
to Hanson as he joins us on tonight's program at about 10
PM.
http://victorhanson.com/
PAUL
VOLKER, ON THE CASE...of possible (we think, very likely) corruption
and criminality at the U.N. In this op-ed from today's Wall
Street Journal, the Chairman of the "Independent Inquiry
Committee" promises that he and his colleagues will, indeed,
be independent--and thorough--as they puruse the basic question
of who pocketed the millions.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/
LA
BAS LES FRANCAIS! Krauthammer is in justifiably high dudgeon in
this op-ed from the current issue of Time--though we
would add that, regarding anti-American obstruction, Chirac is
as much symptom as cause.
http://www.time.com/
FOR
THE GUYS WHO BUILT THE TAJ MAHAL. Recognition at last! We are
indebted to our friends at Arab News for this heartening
item.
http://www.arabnews.com/
WHAT'S WRONG WITH VULGARITY AND STUPIDITY? Well, as this perceptive
journalist argues, they are not good for your kids...or his. What
can be done? Try to halt the further dumbing-down of public education,
resist the NEA's attack upon charter schools and "nurture"
the young ones.
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/
ON
THE COMMERCIAL USE OF JEEVES. The Wodehousians (i.e. friends of
Bertie Wooster and his meta-butler) were not amused when the "Ask
Jeeves" search engine was taken up by the Ovitz bunch a few
years ago. Their man inside Salon got off this remonstrance
which still rings with authentic--if gentlemanly--outrage.
http://www.wodehouse.org/
AND
SPEAKING OF OUTRAGE. What happens when, "all passion spent,"
the leftie can no longer get righteously angry? The depletion
of outrage may produce as paralysing a crisis as the famous New
York blackout, Happily though, The Onion has spotted
the problem...though it has not yet provided a solution. Perhaps
this: say "nil nisi bonum" for a few days and the fires
of rage might get stoked up once again.
http://www.theonion.com/
A
FEAST OF LATIN AMERICAN MUSIC. Mostly from the Andean nations--but
also from Argentina, Mexico and Venezuela. Not to be missed: Taita
Salasaca; Trova de Amor; Fulia Oriental.
http://boleadora.com/
July 6, 2004:
THIS RIVALS THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE...when
it pronounced that Dewey had defeated Truman. Still, the full
story from the New York Post, as duplicated here, makes
Gephardt seem the inevitable choice. Perhaps they should give
Kerry a complimentary subscription.
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/
HOW LONG HAS THE NRC HAD THIS READY-TO-GO? Not neccesarily the
most disinterested source, the Republican National Committee has
just issued this detailed rundown on the public career of John
Edwards. We'd love to see the one they prepared for the General
from Arkansas.
http://www.gop.com/
TWO
CHEERS FOR ALAWI. The Economist weighs the prospects
for the new Iraqi regime and finds--with appropriate uncertainty--that
things are looking up, sort of. As usual in their coverage, the
article and its sidebars convey much useful detail.
http://www.economist.com/
REGARDING
THE FBI AND MUSLIM TERRORISM...one could ask, as Casey Stengel
was wont to do, "Don't nobody here know how to play this
game?" Dan Pipes is instructive and vigilant, as ever.
http://www.danielpipes.org/
AN
ARAB MODERATE FINDS EXTREMISM ENDEMIC...not only in the "Arab
street" but also in the Arab press. This thoughtful and urgent
essay appeared last Sunday in the Washington Post.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
THE
TRIB, THE COLLAPSE OF THE RYAN CANDIDACY...and the case of Kerry:
John Leo has some strong opinions about the judgement (bad--he
thinks) of some of our friends at the Chicago Tribune.
And, as he sees and says it, this has direct bearing on the clamor
for releasing the Kerry divorce records. We would welcome some
reader commentary on this one.
http://www.usnews.com/
THE
RAIN ON TITAN FALLS MAINLY...on the Pole!! Or so the latest images
seems to suggest. But with more information coming in from Cassini/Huygens,
Titan--according to this account in the Christian Science
Monitor--is beginning to look rather like "a deranged
vision of earth."
http://www.csmonitor.com/
PERHAPS
NO MAN IS A MONSTER TO HIS SECRETARY. But how did Traudl Junge
defend her dimness during all those years as the Dictator dictated
to her. A curious book, reviwed here for the New Republic
in a proper tut-tut mood.
http://www.tnr.com/
A
FINE NEW BOOK ON SHAKESPEARE! We have been reading Frank Kermode's
latest and enjoying (and learning much from) it. This review,
by Simon Callow in the Guardian, is accurate and appropriately
appreciative and reminds us of the fine biography of Orson Welles
that the reviewer did (and discussed with us) a few years ago.
http://books.guardian.co.uk/
WHAT DO YOU PLAN TO READ THIS SUMMER? A number of largely literary
Brits answer the question here in a feature from last Sunday's
Observer. Our usual answer would be: "Well, I will
be REREADING Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus and,
of couse, The Yogi Aphorisms of Patanjali." So, whats on
your list?
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/
THE
SELLING OF THE (EX) PRESIDENT'S BOOK. We are in pretty regular
contact with PR people in the publishing industry (by virtue of
our book-consuming radio program) but the all-out effort on the
Clinton volume--as reported here in Slate--seems to us
to have opened a new era or ended an old one.
http://slate.msn.com/
THE
VIEW FROM THE COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER'S PODIUM...was as crudely leftist
as last year, and the year before that..und so weiter. But can't
the faculty committees come up with something better than a bomber
of the capitol and some TV comics?
http://www.frontpagemag.com/
A
LIFE WITHOUT PASTA? The low-carb fad doesn't appeal to this Italian
culinary instructor. We make him out to be the son of the redoubtable
Marcella and Victor Hazan and thus this sensible New York
Times commentary on the latest of many ill-conceived dietary
regimens has behind it the authority of the great gastronomic
tradition so well-served by his family.
http://www.nytimes.com/
GREAT
CHAMBER MUSIC FROM LUGANO. Here is a fine concert performed at
the Argerich Festival just a few days ago. Particularly noteworthy
and worth close listening is the sensitive performance of the
Dvorak quintet.
http://www.rtsi.ch/
July 2, 2004:
YESTERDAY AT THE IRAQI SPECIAL TRIBUNAL.
Here, in as detailed a story as we have seen, is the New York
Times account of the appearance of Saddam and the Saddamites
before the "anonymous young judge" in Baghdad yesterday.
http://www.nytimes.com/
YES,
VIRGINIA...THERE WAS AN AL QAIDA-IRAQ CONNECTION! Stephan Hayes
has done an important book that lays it all out and here he discusses
the basic evidential material with Jamie Glazov of Front Page
magazine.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/
THE
VICE PRESIDENT'S EXPLICIT EXPLETIVE...is forgiven and, in fact,
commended by Charles Krauthammer in this syndicated Washington
Post column. We don't quite share his view but, then, he
is speaking as a former psychiatrist who understands the need
for occasional cathartic release when the enemy heaves in view.
http://www.nydailynews.com/
THE
MOONING OF SOME CONGRESSIONAL DUPES...has already been reported.
An associated question persists: Are the folks at the Washington
Times (owned by the Unification Church) at all in his thrall?
This op-ed from today's Wall Street Journal by a former
Times staffer is of much interest but doesn't fully reassure where
reassurance is required. Yet another question: As Moon grows older
will he be pushing his mad messianic claims more urgently--and
how will the paper be able to resist pressure from the Moon organization?
http://www.opinionjournal.com/
STALIN'S
"BIGGEST FAN" AMONG ARAB TYRANTS...was, and probably
remains, Saddam Hussein. Simon Montefiore (our conversation with
him about his Stalin biography will appear here
early next week) examines the parallels between these two murderers
in this op-ed from today's New York Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/
AND
SPEAKING OF MONTEFIORE'S "STALIN"...this U.K. Guardian
review by Robert Service--himself a biographer of the mad master
of the Kremlin--shares some of the rich detail to be found in
the book.
http://books.guardian.co.uk/
HOW
GOOD TO KNOW THAT UNCLE ACLU IS STILL PROTECTING US...in this
case from those who might want to keep teenage co-ed public nudity
at some distance! Can't the "guardians of our civil rights"
comprehend the elementary meaning of civility?
http://ap.t
